ABSTRACT
Until the 1990s, South Africa's tourism industry was hampered by its political status as an international pariah nation resulting from the constitutional entrenchment of minority white government which operated under a system known as Apartheid. The Australian government's travel advisory, in common with those of other Western countries, warns travellers to take extra precautions to minimise their exposure to crime in South Africa and it highlights areas of greatest risk. The South African crime problem is more borderline, but while it may deter some tourists from visiting, it certainly hasn't prevented substantial tourism growth during the 1990s and the beginning of the twenty-first century. Since 1992, South African Tourism has placed more emphasis on encouraging South Africans to visit their own country than on promoting tourism to overseas markets. The devaluation of the South African currency has made South Africa a far more affordable destination for Western travellers than was the case in the past.
